The present disclosure relates generally to an online content management service, and more specifically to management of notifications to client devices about events that occur in a content management system.
An online content management service can allow users to access and manage content across multiple devices using the Internet. In an online content management service, a user can establish an account with the service provider and can associate various content items with the account. For example, some online content management services may allow the user to store content items (including but not limited to text documents; email messages; text messages; other types of messages; media files such as photos, videos, and audio files; and/or folders containing multiple files) and to selectively allow other users to access the content items. Content items can be stored in a master repository maintained by the service provider and mirrored to or synchronized with local copies on various user devices. Users intereseted in content maintained by the service provider can access the online content management service to receive updates about changes in content or other types of notifications related to activity associated with content managed by the online content management service. The online content management service can provide updates about activity of other users; for instance, in a social network, status updates or other content items posted by one user can be propagated to other users who have indicated interest in receiving them.
With the proliferation of mobile computing devices, many users can access content managed by an online content management service from a variety of clients, such as web browsers, desktop application programs, and mobile-device apps. An increase in the number of devices can lead to an increase in a number of notifications to be managed. Managing distribution of notifications can present challenges for an online content management service provider.